Currently there are some protests against the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada taking the shape of rail blockades around the country.
In the grand scheme of things their impact on the larger Canadian economy or society are negligible. Certainly some are suffering as a result but if these protests were actually causing real damage then the Canadian economy has much bigger problems than just these blockades.
With that in mind it is no wonder that the government has not moved to bring them down with more force than they have so far. They are content to negotiate with the protesters to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation. Note I am not going to call it a crisis because it is not a crisis. It might be a profound inconvenience for some but that is all.
Of course, many in the media and the Conservative Party are calling it a crisis and demanding decisive action to bring it to an end, namely ending it by force. It is amazing what you can demand when you do not have to worry about the consequences of your actions or your demands. Any fallout from such actions would fall squarely on the government and those who demanded said actions would completely deny they made such demands when it did. It is just further proof to me that the Conservative Party is morally and ethically bankrupt and it is further justification for me to never again pay for news in this country. If the media is going to fail in its duty to democracy I should not have to pay for the product they are peddling.
As well, if these protesters blocking the rail lines were white people demanding such things as the end of the legality of abortions and same sex marriage or the elimination of gun control laws both the Conservative Party and the media would be calling them Canadian patriots and screaming at the government NOT TO USE FORCE in any form. I would like to say the hypocrisy is mind-blowing but that would imply the Conservatives and their cheerleaders have scruples, which they do not. We are just seeing more of the same.
As for the protesters themselves I find them not much better. Make no mistake I am very conflicted about the Trans Mountain Pipeline. However, the process for approval has been followed, the protesters had their day (or days) in court and they lost. It really bugs me when people or organizations insist on governments following due process and the rule of law but then when those same people or organizations come out on the losing end of that process they do not accept it and resort to illegal means to attempt to bring about the outcome they were looking for. I find them not much better than the Conservatives or the media.
Imagine the outcry (a very justifiable outcry) if the government were to revert to extra-judicial measures to subvert or ignore a court ruling.
Enough is enough. To the media and Conservatives, shut up. You are not helping matters. To the protesters, you lost. Get over it.
1 comment:
Justin Trudeau is taking a lot of flak for something that he/the feds have a limited role in adjudicating one way or the other. I know you tend to ignore polls, but there was a Nanos one out today that both spooked and perplexed me: the Conservatives gaining off the left-wing parties which have been the most fervent supporters of these protests, while the Liberals' support has remained the same since election day.
What that tells me is that while there hasn't a broad backlash to the Liberals on this issue, there hasn't been a ringing support either. The Greens tend to be a parking lot for undecideds, but the Conservatives also gaining off the Bloc and NDP tells me that there is a contingent of pissed-off voters in Bloc and NDP constituencies among the working class. Populism has come to Canada. See also, Black Lives Matter in 2016.
Regardless, much of this mess falls on the shoulders of premiers, the company, and the tribe itself allowing an internal power dispute and defiance of a court order to spill out elsewhere in the country. Civics education is clearly abysmal in Canada and that is in part a failure of the media to properly inform the public. There are certain things that he cannot do -- like directing the police -- which is an incredibly hypocritical demand from the opposition in that they were shrieking loud this time last year accusing him of meddling in the rule of law.
So Trudeau does not deserve to wear the blame, especially since he took up the slack anyway and made a good-faith effort to engage, one that was rebuffed by the tribe leaders who kept escalating and modifying their untenable ransom demands. The hijacking by external "causes" and ill-informed "allies" has only complicated matters further. The longer this goes on, the less sympathy there will be for the reconciliation cause among the general public. And that's unfortunate, but the protesters have no one to blame but themselves. When someone offers you an olive branch, you don't go and spit in their face.
I think Trudeau has handled himself as well as he possibly could throughout this ordeal. If cooler heads don't want to listen to reason, whether it's the absolutist left demanding to "tear down the colonial state" or the Conservatives wanting to crack skulls, then that's not Trudeau's fault. What is even more unfortunate is that I think he really believed in his idealistic platform, and it must pain him to see the merchants of rage tear it to shreds. Hopefully the ripple effect does not tip the election, whenever it may be. He gets blame for everything bad, and never any credit for the good. But I seem to recall those same vocal pundits and pollsters blaming Barack Obama for not solving racism in 4 years. Plus ça change.
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